A unique opportunity to study in the city of Liverpool, home of The Beatles and with access to leading Popular Music academics and Beatles specialists, this MA is the only one of its kind in the UK and the world.

This MA will examine the significance of the music of The Beatles in the construction of identities, audiences, ethnicities and industries, and localities; by doing so it will suggest ways to understand popular music as a social practise, focusing attention on issues such as the role of music in the construction of regional identities, concepts of authenticity, aesthetics, meaning, value, performance, and the use of popular music as a discursive evocation of place. Furthermore, in a consideration of popular music as a text, popular music semiotics will also be employed.

This MA will be of interest to those working in the fields of popular music studies, cultural studies, social anthropology, politics, gender studies, and musicology, among others. Such a course is an essential addition to the discipline of Popular Music Studies.

Contents

Currently four taught modules are offered on this programme.

• Texts and Contexts: Understanding Popular Music - This will offer the student an understanding of how Popular Music Studies has expanded and developed to deal with the changing nature of popular music over the past 50 years. Via several Beatles-related case studies this module will offer contextually-related research methods.

• Topics in History: Liverpool - This module studies the varied representations of Liverpool via film, TV and radio, leading up the advent of the Beatles. It also provides specific musical and social case studies which ask the student to consider and question Liverpool as the ‘musical’ city from which the Beatles emerged.

• Musicology and The Beatles - In this module students will take a popular music semiotics approach and will textually analyse a variety of Beatles material.

• Historical and Critical Approaches - Students will be invited to study a more ethnographic approach to The Beatles, the various cultural discourses surrounding their music, and the local tourist industry established in Liverpool to capitalise on the group

Requirements

UK requirements for international applications

Universities in the United Kingdom use a centralized system of undergraduate application: University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). It is used by both domestic and international students. Students have to register on the UCAS website before applying to the university. They will find all the necessary information about the application process on this website. Some graduate courses also require registration on this website, but in most cases students have to apply directly to the university. Some universities also accept undergraduate application through Common App (the information about it could be found on universities' websites).

Both undergraduate and graduate students may receive three types of responses from the university. The first one, “unconditional offer” means that you already reached all requirements and may be admitted to the university. The second one, “conditional offer” makes your admission possible if you fulfill some criteria – for example, have good grades on final exams. The third one, “unsuccessful application” means that you, unfortunately, could not be admitted to the university of you choice.

All universities require personal statement, which should include the reasons to study in the UK and the information about personal and professional goals of the student and a transcript, which includes grades received in high school or in the previous university.

Program requirements

2:1 degree in a relevant subject, which ideally includes some element of Popular Music Studies. However, other pathways will also be considered, for example Cultural Studies, History, English, Music, Media. The programme is taught in English. Students whose first language is not English are normally required to have an IELTS 6.5, TOEFL paper based 560, TOEFL ibt 83 or other equivalent recognised English qualification.

Funding

International Postgraduate Scholarships‌ (Deadline 3rd of June for September 2015 entry)

Open to Postgraduate Taught (Masters) offer holders.

Criteria for selection: applicants with high academics and demonstrable social and community involvement.

Worth 50% of course fees.

Five International Postgraduate Scholarships available annually.

Application form must be submitted and selection is by university committee.

Unique Scholarship Packages for International Students

Open to all Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught international applicants.